Halloween candy: trick, or treat?

Halloween is a magical time to be a child. There are parties, costumes, parades, fun decorations, scary stories and movies, people giving you enough candy to last an entire year, and 2.2 pounds of extra weight. It’s a great time to be a kid! October kicks off an entire season of feasting and eating sweets that starts with Halloween and rolls right on through New Year’s. The better part of the last quarter of our year is spent consuming extra food and sweets.[2]

We need to take a serious look at our traditions that are shaping future generations of Americans. With rampant obesity and the illnesses that come with it, we can no longer afford to hand children a year’s supply of candy at the end of each October. Let’s help them have a healthier Halloween this year instead.

Last year my kids brought home about three pounds of candy each from trick-or-treating around our neighborhood on Halloween night. They were allowed to eat all they wanted on Halloween night, and were informed that they could keep a small amount of their favorites, but the rest of it would be going right back out the door. It almost seemed cruel to make them do this, as they were looking sickly by the end of the all-you-can-eat-candy-fest, but it was the healthiest method we could come up with, as far as their teeth and their little bodies were concerned, for them to enjoy Halloween and their three pound mountains of candy.

I was surprised to learn recently, from a study done by the University of Colorado in 2010, that my kids’ candy haul last year was far below average, with the average child bringing home 22 pounds of candy — more than they need for an entire year. The best that can be said of Halloween’s health effects is that at least kids are exercising as they walk door to door hauling an increasing weight load of treats.

The average child will gain 2.2 pounds of extra weight from Halloween candy consumption. Whether or not this overloads them now, the effects of consuming excessive candy will ultimately harm them. We are setting children up for a future of obesity and addiction with these traditions that put temporary smiles on their costumed little faces in exchange for serving them sugar-laden treats that fuel their addiction to sugar.

Coloradans need to rethink what we are serving children the last quarter of each year, starting with Halloween. Our holidays promote excess while we are becoming excessively larger ourselves. It’s time to pare down our celebrations. What’s the healthiest trick-OR-treat that you can pass out to children that will still put smiles on their faces? We all know that what they really want is treats but, News Flash here: kids shouldn’t always get what they want. Treats may actually be the cruelest trick, ultimately resulting in obesity. They’ll still get enjoyment from non-fat, sugar-free items — such as games, toys, pencils, erasers, stickers, spider-rings, glow bracelets, etc. — things that are fun and healthy, too.

In today’s world, with the CDC predicting that by 2030, 50 percent of all Americans will be obese, we cannot afford to keep passing out pounds of candy to kids each October. We need to make changes now that will spare today’s children from becoming part of this statistic. This year, I won’t be passing out treats to the kids in my neighborhood. I’m passing out Play Dough instead. I’ve made a deal with my own kids as well. Instead of overdosing on sugar this year, they agreed to trick-or-treat only from the people on our street that we know, in exchange for my buying them a small amount of their favorite candy. That’s what I’m doing this year to keep kids in Colorado free from a future of obesity. How about you? Will you be giving a trick or a treat this year?

Barb Redford (redfordbarb@gmail.com) is a stay-at-home mom to four kids and lives in Arvada. Colorado Voices is an annual competition among writers vying for the opportunity to publish columns of regional interest in The Denver Post.